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Italian earthquake

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An earthquake hit L'Aquila at 3.32 am local time today, 6 April 2009, killing at least 150 people and leaving up to 50,000 homeless. Preliminary estimates suggest between 10,000 and 15,000 buildings have been destroyed or damaged beyond repair in the region. It is however much to early for a final balance. The village of Onna was competely razed to the ground. It was was the country's deadliest since the Irpinia quake in the south in November 1980, which killed more than 2,500 people.

According to USGS the epicentre was at 42.423°N, 13.395°E. The depth was only about 10 km. Shallow earthquakes are usually the most damaging.

Carved up by two major fault lines, Italy has gained a reputation as one of the most earthquake prone countries in Europe. The Eurasian and African plates meet along a line which runs through North Africa and crosses the Mediterranean near southern Italy and Greece. Africa is moving northward at about 2 cm a year. As a result two main cracks - or fault lines - cut across the Italian peninsula, one running north-south along the spine of the Apennine mountains (where Aquila is situated) and another crossing east-west south of Rome and north of Naples. The city of L’Aquila (founded in 1245) is thus located in a tectonic basin bounded to the north by a northwest–southeast-trending active normal fault. (The earthquake was in fact a shallow normal-faulting event). The city sits in a valley in the central Apennines north of Rome and is built on a basin of sediments which has attracted geological interest in the past. It was hit by earthquakes repeatedly in its history including one in 1703 which flattened the centre.

Here are a few links to the first media reports from the disaster.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/7985958.stm
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/7984867.stm
http://www.gdacs.org/reports.asp?eventType=EQ&ID=54774&system=asgard&location=ITA&alertlevel=Green&glide_no=
http://www.terradaily.com/reports/Strong_6.7_magnitude_quake_strikes_Italy_Rome_fire_service_999.html
http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/world/la-fg-italy-quake7-2009apr07,0,1185599.story
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/europe/italy/5114636/LAquila-earthquake-damaged-ancient-baths-in-Rome.html
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/europe/italy/5114139/Italian-earthquake-experts-warnings-were-dismissed-as-scaremongering.html

In Danish:
http://www.dr.dk/Nyheder/Udland/2009/04/06/110312.htm?nyhedsbrev
http://ing.dk/artikel/97716-usaedvanlig-forklaring-bag-jordskaelv-mikroplader-blev-revet-fra-hinanden

In Dutch
http://www.knack.be/nieuws/europa/aardbeving-in-italie--zeker-40-doden/site72-section25-article31778.html

In German:
http://www.zeit.de/online/2009/15/bg-erdbeben

And a few links to fellow bloggers’ posts so far about the event:

* http://amphibol.blogspot.com/2009/04/erdbeben-in-italien.html
* http://ontario-geofish.blogspot.com/2009/04/large-earthquake-hits-italy.html
* http://daveslandslideblog.blogspot.com/2009/04/first-take-on-italy-earthquake.html
* http://geology.about.com/b/2009/04/06/italy-struck-by-m-63-quake.htm
* http://www.goodschist.com/2009/04/06/manitude-63-earthquake-in-laquila-italy/
* http://seismo.berkeley.edu/blogs/seismoblog.php/2009/04/06/title-2
* http://aldopiombino.blogspot.com/2009/04/il-terremoto-dellaquila-tra-annunci.html

more will no doubt follow.



Third Pole Melting L'Aquila Earthquake - Followup

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